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“Be good, be clear, and be current.” That is the mantra of Philip and Sibs Harrell, house owners of Sundae Scoop, a mom-and-pop ice cream store in Virginia Seaside, Virginia.
Customer support is the primary precedence for these enterprise house owners. Whether or not chatting with prospects or deciding on and coaching workers, Philip and Sibs concentrate on creating an inviting group house for buddies and households to assemble.
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“On the finish of the day, being in the neighborhood is what an ice cream store is about,” Philip mentioned. “We signify each tradition that is in our space. That is the place the ube ice cream comes from, or the coquito, or rum raisin. Every a kind of [flavors] is gonna reply or contact one thing in somebody that they keep in mind from their childhood.”
Sundae Scoop’s heat and fascinating customer support has earned the enterprise a 4.8-star Yelp score with almost 100 opinions (on the time of writing). Most reviewers talk about constructive experiences they’ve had interacting with Philip and his pleasant workers, together with Yelp Elite Aneesa P.
Arriving proper after the shop had opened for the day, Aneesa chatted with Philip as she ordered her ice cream. He shared the story of the store, helped her pick the right gluten-free taste, and even helped her snap the right images and movies to accompany her assessment.
“I felt like we actually linked,” Aneesa mentioned. “He wasn’t similar to ‘This is your ice cream. Go.’ He was like, ‘Hey, I wish to let , behind the scenes, the story of how I got here up with this concept.'”
Philip and Sibs see constructive opinions like Aneesa’s as a key instrument for reinforcing workers morale. When a scooper will get referred to as out by identify for contributing to a constructive buyer expertise, Philip and Sibs are the primary to allow them to know.
“They’re younger children. They’re very self-conscious,” Sibs mentioned. “So it feels actually good when individuals give them their big-ups and identify them.”
Philip and Sibs spend numerous time not solely encouraging present workers but in addition hiring scoopers who will contribute to Sundae Scoop’s hospitable tradition. They ask all job candidates to totally learn the opinions and pay attention to what individuals love most in regards to the store. They wish to be sure that all new and potential hires are able to ship the peppy, pleasant service Sundae Scoop guarantees.
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As a community-driven house, Sundae Scoop is energetic within the Virginia Seaside space, partnering with native faculties and companies on occasions like ice cream socials. Philip and Sibs are additionally dedicated to mentoring fellow small enterprise house owners, connecting with different companies by way of group teams and selling them on the partitions of their store. In his three years working Sundae Scoop, Philip has helped three different companies get off the bottom.
“They took the chance too. They took that leap of religion,” he mentioned. “So if somebody like myself or my spouse can come alongside and assist them on their journey, that is all the higher as a result of it is constructing a stronger group.”
Philip has discovered these relationships particularly necessary to domesticate as a Black enterprise proprietor. He speaks to the concern of the unknown that may floor within the Black enterprise proprietor group when you do not know who to show to or what assets are on the market.
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“I at all times encourage individuals simply to hitch one thing,” he mentioned. “You gotta discover one thing larger than your self. It’s important to discover individuals who appear to be you, and it’s a must to discover individuals who do not appear to be you. And also you want to have the ability to use recommendation from all of them and put it collectively.”
Supporting Black-owned companies was a part of Aneesa’s motivation to go to Sundae Scoop. Being one in every of a handful of Black girls in her subject, she was in a position to join with Philip over what it is like to achieve success in a white-dominated house. Aneesa confused the significance of writing opinions to make sure that nice Black-owned companies do not get closed down on account of a scarcity of help.
“All of us need to help one another, not deliver one another down,” she mentioned. “[It’s] actually necessary to me to have the ability to let everyone know, ‘Hey, we are able to personal all of those areas and likewise achieve success as effectively.'”
Philip and Sibs remind themselves every single day of their dedication to being groundbreakers of their group with a mural on the wall of Sundae Scoop. This reimagining of the well-known portray “Underneath the Wave off Kanagawa” represents a line from artist and rapper Tobe Nwigwe’s music “EAT” that reads: “[We] do not simply journey the wave, we create it.'”
“[Sundae Scoop] is our manner of making our personal waves, of creating our personal path and ensuring that we will be okay,” Philip mentioned. “On the finish of the day, simply be good, help one another, and assist one another the place you may, and I can virtually promise you that it may come again your manner.”
Along with the ability of heat and fascinating customer support, Sundae Scoop believes:
Take heed to the episode beneath to listen to instantly from Philip, Sibs, and Aneesa, and subscribe to Behind the Evaluate for extra from new enterprise house owners and reviewers each Thursday.
Accessible on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Pandora, and Soundcloud.
Editorial contributions by Callie Morgan and Kristi Lindahl
